Îthe of Beauty and the island of misfortune: tens of thousands of kilometers apart, Corsica and Mayotte experienced a Sunday at the antipodes. Long-awaited papal visit on one side, devastating cyclone on the other; popular fervor here, distress first affecting the poorest there; beauty of a calm winter sky over the Mediterranean versus the fury of the elements over the Indian Ocean.
However, an invisible link brought these island populations together through the Pope. Suggesting to the faithful gathered in their thousands for mass at the green theater of Ajaccio to “support in spirit” the Mahorais disaster victims, Francis went to the bedside of the “peripheries of the world” that he loves, encouraging these people from a distance. wounded people not to lose confidence and, while waiting for material help, to draw spiritual strength from the intentions channeled by the collective prayer of the Casone.
Cyclone Chido which struck Mayotte did not obscure the importance of this third visit of the Pope to French lands. But he put his political interpretations into perspective, such as these comments on Francis' decision to visit Notre-Dame in Ajaccio rather than in Paris; or on Emmanuel Macron's choice to provide a form of minimum service this Sunday in Corsica.
The Pope encouraged the faithful of Ajaccio to “support in spirit” the Mahorais victims
We can of course listen to the “political” messages sent by the pope. The one who addresses France to encourage it to take inspiration from the less rigid way in which secularism is practiced on the Isle of Beauty has not gone unnoticed. But Corsican nationalists will also have noted the way in which Francis, who came to close a conference on popular religiosity, distanced himself from those who exploit it “to strengthen identities in a polemical way by fueling particularisms”.
But when misfortune befalls men like that December night in Mayotte, we go back to basics. And we can think that the joyful prayer of the Corsicans welcoming a pope for the first time in their history is for the people of Mahor a foretaste of the solidarity, national and human, which they hope for as quickly as possible to heal their wounds.
By praying for them in Corsica, the pope was in his role as pastor as he was in his message to the French read on December 8 in the cathedral of Paris, and as he will be in a few days in Rome for Christmas. Pastor, that is to say guide and intercessor for people, whether they are in joy or sorrow.
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